Another Day Under the SSSN
by FirestarLeon
Summary: [A cannon DSS Short Story] This was a simple mission for the SSSN team, given by their usual Mistral employers. The Mistral government wanted both a target eliminated, and a small research station robbed. It was easy to the point of being boring. Or... so they thought...
1. On the Job

**Three days after the** **failed Vale Attack...**

This Atlan military facility is really nothing special. It was comically easy to break into, with the same barren and soulless white walls making it up, and standard white armored guards patrolled its halls. Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, they've been doing these types of missions for so long it almost made Sun want to leave their contract; Just for something a little different.

_We should have done something more dangerous than the same old 'break in at night' deal. Maybe in the middle of the day, scientists doing work, more guards… It would've been better than this._

Finally the last of the patrolling guards came around the corner. His helmet flashlights giving him away as he walked casually down the hall. He seemed to be bobbing his head (probably listening to his Y-Pod), and he had even shouldered his energy rifle.

The poor shmuck didn't even have the chance to notice the tailed Faunus hanging above him. Bō staff at the ready.

* * *

Sun sighed as he stuffed the now unconscious guard into a nearby closet, manually setting it to stay closed and destroying the door panel. He had taken the guard's radio equipment, destroyed it too, and now started to casually walk away.

_I bet Scarlet and Sage are having _way_ more fun than us. They always seem to get all the missions involving explosions and daring getaways no matter what I do to change that._

Sun turned several corners and used a "borrowed" ID pass to get through the various checkpoints; eventually coming across a more secured and non-automatic vault that was already cracked open. Inside it, a blue light emanated from a larger than life computer monitor.

Standing at said computer, was a tallish and older teen. His hair a sky blue that almost blended into the light as he worked feverously at hacking.

"Sup nerd." Sun called out as he entered; A mischievous smile growing. He always knew how to push Neptune's buttons.

But of course, the blue haired "Intellectual" just ignored him. He may not have even realized Sun was in the room. His face showed all the signs of one in complete concentration: Eyes bouncing around the large screen to glance at fast flying data, pursed lips, and a slight sweat.

_Jeeze. It's just numbers. How can anyone care that much about computers? _Sun thought, making his way over to his partner.

"What's got you? I thought computers were your thing?" Sun snarked, taking a seat at the abandoned computer chair nearby Neptune. "Oh, and by the way, I got rid of the last guard. No need to thank me or anything."

Again, nothing. Neptune seemed almost in a trance as he continued to type faster and faster. His expression growing more strained, as the computer made more noises and more data whizzed by.

"Uh, you okay there dude?" Sun asked; dropping his act and showing real concern for his friend.

"Theé mou... Ti sto diáolo eínai af̱tó to prágma?" Neptune finally muttered, speaking in Mistrilian. He still didn't acknowledge Sun's presence.

Sun slowly raised from his chair. He came close and put his hand on Neptune's shoulder, ready to snap his friend back into reality. Though he never got the chance when, as he placed his hand, the computer screen made a loud dinging sound. The blue light was then replaced with bright green as multiple pop-up windows appeared; each of them some kind of file.

At that moment, Neptune jumped up and away from the computer and its several keyboards. He threw his hands up into the air, dancing around wildly and yelling out excitedly, "Hahha! Success! _I. am. The_. G_reatest_!"

"Uh..." Sun gawked, watching his friend celebrate with large white circles for eyes.

Neptune stopped dead, pivoting in Sun's direction and only _now_ noticing his presence. He seemed startled at first, though once he realized who it was he became his usual suave persona. Trying to coolly cover up his embarrassment.

"Oh. Hey." He said, pointing at Sun as he said the words. "You took care of the guards?"

Sun nodded before turning towards the screen. Though before he could make anything out of the files, Neptune pulled back up beside him.

"So uh… what is this?" Sun asked.

Neptune shifted his weight and placed his right hand on his chin, taking a pondering pose. His eyes bobbing from one window to the next.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I was just finishing up taking the data we needed, when all of a sudden some new data came rushing in. It was moving into the system and then trying to get back out at incredible speeds. I thought it was some sort of defensive virus made to destroy all the data in case it was being stolen, but then I realized it was something else."

The tech savvy mercenary took his seat again, typing away and clicking at several of the windows to try and read into them. Most of it Sun couldn't understand (being in Atlan and all), though there were some pictures to go with several of the documents and some Common Tongue words he could make out.

Neptune continued to elaborate. "It put up quite a fight to not get taken by me, so it must be something important."

Suddenly, Neptune's eyes went wide as he muttered, "Oh damn. Do you know what some of these are?"

Sun look over at Neptune, brows raised in waiting.

"I think some of these are schematics. Sun, I think I captured top secret weapon plans! They must've been going discretely through several networks to stay undetectable while heading to their destination. I mean the odds us crossing paths with this thing at just the right moment must have been..." Neptune trailed off, actually doing calculations in his head.

Sun's eyes went wide and a smile grew. _Finally! _He thought._ Excitement on one of these stupid missions!_

"Really?! Well what are they!?" Sun interrupted, breaking Neptune away from his mathematics.

Neptune did some more typing and some more window jumping to bring up several photos; all of them combat droids that neither of the boys have ever seen before.

"Oh shit…" Sun muttered as both boys' jaws dropped. "Those have to be new AK models."

Neptune highlighted numbers and some Common Tongue words for Sun, reading them aloud.

"Atlesian Knight… model 200. Scheduled for AK-130's complete replacement. And… Atlesian Knight model 230; Renamed the AP, Atlesian Paladin. The first mechanized battlesuit of its kind with all new, on board A.I. systems."

The two boys stayed silent as the weight of this discovery sank in. This… was big. Bigger then what Mistral was paying them for.

"...Do you ever wonder why Atlas never can count their robots correctly?" Sun asked. Completely breaking the tension.

Neptune only looked at Sun and facepalmed. He was also about to go off on Sun and call him some synonym for an idiot, though he stopped himself. He only rolled his eyes and sighed; going back to the computer to start downloading the files onto his scroll.

"Never really thought about it." Was all he muttered.

After a long silence and work, Sun spoke up again. "Hey, what's with that one?"

"Uh?" Neptune broke away from downloading files, looking where his partner was pointing. One of the files being downloaded had Valian writing on it, and unlike the other files, this one seemed to be locked by several passwords.

"That's weird." Neptune half muttered to himself. He looked into the file's name, and it read:

_No Strings Project Update_

"Huh. That's… really weird. That may be a joint project. Otherwise, I have _no_ idea why Vale data would be in with this stuff."

Sun only shrugged as he played around with his staff; spinning it slowly around him.

"Ah well. We can throw it in for an extra commission. Mistral will take anything from Vale and pay triple for it." Neptune declared; Ready to get this downloaded and grab something to eat.

"Say, do you wanna get a pizza after this?"

Sun shook his head. He had now separated his staff into their nunchaku forms, and was now spinning them around with both hands.

"Nah. I'm sick of pizza. How about some ramen?" He countered.

Neptune shrugged. "I'd be down for that. I hear there's a pretty good shop nearby the entrance to the city dome. It's only a simple walk into-" He was interrupted by the sounds of the two teens' communicators going off.

* * *

Both boys put their hands to their ears to listen in. And what came through were the combined sounds of a garbled deep voice, static, and gunfire.

"...Nep…Sun…co…in! ...Contacts… ambush…"

"Sage? We can't hear you. Repeat, over." Sun ordered into the communicator. He sounded calm and collected as his leader skills started to kick in.

Static filled the silence that followed, causing Neptune to look over at Sun for a moment with a look of worry. Though his attention came back to the communicator as a different voice started to come through.

"Scarlet here. The situation has gotten bad. We were finishing up with our target when some White Fang soldiers and a freaky haired girl just showed up. We're falling back to the Odyssey. We'll swing by and pick you guys up. Over."

Sun and Neptune exchanged a glance.

"Right. Just get out of there guys. We'll meet you at the entrance of the facility. Over and out."

Sun didn't hear a response, though he wasn't going to wait for one. He looked back over at Neptune, giving him a serious look and a commanding tone.

"I don't care if we don't get every file. We are leaving. _Now_."

Neptune took on a focused look and nodded. "Right." He went over and checked his scroll, noticing all the files had been downloaded. Though just in case he also began backing up the files quickly onto his wrist tool.

"Do you think Mistral is cutting us loose? I mean, I know Scarlet said White Fang soldiers, but it wouldn't be the first time some dressed up as those guys as a cover." Neptune thought out loud.

"Who knows. Like you said, Mistral may have gotten new mercs and want us gone and they may have sent a strike team to end our partnership. Or maybe Scarlet and Sage were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, I'd rather find out later." Sun looked over at Neptune, who was still waiting for his copy to finish. "Hey, lets go!" Sun ordered.

"Why the rush?"

Both Neptune and Sun froze. They both briefly looked at each other, wondering for a moment where that female voice came from.

The two then quickly armed themselves; Neptune with his rifle out and a charged shot pulsing, and Sun with his staff at the ready; to find two older teens waiting for them at the door. A girl with mint-green hair, and a boy with gray hair. Both of them wearing similar colored attire to their hair.

"Oh, hey." The grey boy called nonchalantly. "Did we interrupt something?"


	2. Previous Work

**Earlier that night...**

This small hangar usually served as a fuel station for passing airships or a good rest stop for anyone traversing the vast Atlan desert. It was military owned, though the soldiers posted there were usually friendly and not threatening to travelers; welcoming anybody that needed them. Though that all changed with the arrival of a secret "prototype weapon" that had arrived not a week ago, and was being hidden there temporarily. And since that strange weapon's coming: All the old guards were to stay out of the actual hangar area, more aggressive and more well armed soldiers came moving in, and they now had to turn away all travelers and needing air vessels.

With all that in mind, the original assumption was that this place was going to be crawling with guards. Meaning Scarlet and Sage would have to fight their way through it. But, as fortune has it, at this time of night all the new guards were off in the mess hall having dinner. Leaving all the old guards to patrol the perimeter. Easy prey.

"No no no, don't make this harder than it has to be."

Take this poor guy as an example. This poor young soldier, who looked to have only turned fifteen a month ago, must have volunteered to be assigned to this outpost during her break for a combat school extra credit project. She can barely fit into standard Atlan military armor (yet was told by the newcomers to patrol by herself), and was now currently being choked out by a certain red haired mercenary. Thankfully, for Scarlet's case, the kid did go quickly and without much of a fight.

When the she finally passed out, Scarlet let her drop from his chokehold and fall to the ground face first. As he walked onward, Scarlet laughed to himself, "That child is going to have the worst headache when she wakes up."

* * *

Scarlet moved forward silently, carefully looking out for any other patrols as he moved into the large and dark hangar. Apparently this outpost had no night timed lights, since the only light sources came from the full moon and the glow through the attached main building's windows.

_Where in the world is that oaf? I told him to meet me in the hangar._ Scarlet thought to himself. _And weren't there supposed to be guard dogs around here too?_

As the fancy dressed merc got closer into the hangar itself, he only now noticed two empty dog kennels near the door connecting the hangar to the main building. Also then he noticed movement in-between the several parked bullheads deeper into the hangar.

Scarlet slowly approached, weaving between the many aircrafts silently as he prepared himself for whatever sight beheld him. Though even then, all that preparing would not save him when he finally saw what was causing all that movement. The sight alone causing him to facepalm the visible side of his face, and caused a sweatdrop to form on the other half.

There, kneeling down, was Sage. Smiling as he pet and played with two happy Rottweilers and an overly excited Corgi.

"And just _what_ do you think you're doing?" Scarlet scolded as he approached, forgetting for a moment to be quiet.

Sage looked up at his partner for moment- momentarily dropping his rarely seen grin- before returning his attention to one of the Rottweilers, scratching its belly as it rolled onto its back.

"I was waiting for you." Sage said in that deep and calm voice of his.

An angry mark began to form on Scarlet as his patience wore thin. He hated it when people didn't follow through with a plan, and he almost hated it even more when they didn't focus entirely on the mission; which is why naturally their team's "wise" leader always partnered him with this few worded, weak minded, easily _distracted-_

...Scarlet pinched the bridge of his nose and took a long and deep breath. He let his frustration subside, before addressing his… _friend,_ again.

"Well, if you don't _mind_, I'd like to get back to _the mission._" Scarlet hissed through grinding teeth, trying desperately to not let his quickly returning anger loose.

Sage nodded. He slowly rose to his feet, causing all the dogs to suddenly looked up to him; wagging their tails as they expecting more attention. This caused Sage to briefly chuckle to himself before he took on his normal stone serious look and tone.

"You two, go to bed." He said, looking at the two guard dogs. Which, shockingly, both obliged; turning and walking back in the direction of their shelters. Sage then looked at the remaining Corgi, briefly glancing at the dog's collar before looking it in the eyes.

"You, go back to master." Sage commanded. Though the dog did not move; it only tilted its head and let its tongue hang out.

Sage narrowed his eyes as he ordered more sternly, "_Now Zwei."_

The small dog flattened its ears and whimpered for moment. However it quickly perked up again, running off with surprising speed towards the open hangar doors and into the vast desert.

"Hmph. His owner must be traveling through the desert not far from here. Probably heading for Atlas." Scarlet assumed aloud; His anger completely subsiding now that they were back on task. "Regardless, let's find our target and destroy it already. It won't be long before the majority of the guards return."

Sage only grunted in agreement.

* * *

The two young adults searched around as quickly and as quietly as they could, searching low and high for this supposed weapon that Mistral wanted gone. So far, their search seemed hopeless after the twentieth Bullhead they searched. That is until Scarlet heard whispered to him,

"I found it."

Scarlet felt his skin almost leap off of him as he stifled a yelp. He turned around to find a slightly confused Sage that was uncomfortably close to him... again.

Scarlet's eyes turned to flames. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!? DON'T DO THAT! LEARN THE CONCEPT OF PERSONAL SPACE!" He snapped, ready to kill his dense partner right here in this Bullhead and happily deal with all the consequences that would follow suite.

Sage remained uncomfortably close as he only blinked in response. He stayed quiet and still as Scarlet silenced himself and took several deep breaths; though even when the fire died in his eyes, Scarlet's breathing came in deep aggravated strokes. Sage then put a finger to his own lips, giving a hushed _shh_ sound before finally turning away and walking towards his findings. Scarlet followed in relative silence as he muttered to himself under his coat's collar.

They both came to a stop at a small corner in the very back of the hangar, where a pile of storage boxes and crates all lay. It seemed fine and uninteresting until you realized that one of the small boxes had something the others didn't… a label reading "_Fragile_", and a small mark on one of the corners that was the Atlian science division emblem.

Immediately Scarlet perked up, smiling at Sage for a moment before looking back at the surprisingly small container that fit the description.

"Not bad Sage. Must've been buried back there with all that other supplies wasn't it?"

Sage only grunted.

"Well, good on you. I never would have spotted it. And I'm guessing they were planning on moving it soon, so we arrived just on time."

Scarlet knelt down and began prying open the lid of the box. He had assumed that the target they were looking for was a ship, and not something as small as an Ursa's head. The contents of the box only added to his growing confusion and curiosity.

"What is it?" Sage asked as he stood by Scarlet, arms crossed as he looked down.

"I'm… not really sure." Scarlet admitted. He reached inside and grabbed the strange metal sphere. He stood up with it, lifting it up to a ray of dim moonlight that was coming in from an above skylight to get a better look.

The sphere was no bigger than Scarlet's head, though it was much lighter. It was covered in a layer of plastic that had the symbol for danger marked on it. On the inside, the sphere was dirty, covered in rust, and dent in some places. It had four tiny spots around it that seemed to be holes, and two large faded pillar shaped lines were painted on one side of it.

After examining the strange object for a long moment, both Scarlet and Sage looked back into the box to find sheets of paper that had been placed beneath the object. Sage leaned down, grabbed the papers, and looked them over.

"It's probably in Atlan. Do you need me to translate?" Scarlet offered.

Sage didn't reply. He flipping through the several papers; his eyes scanned over them with incredible speed. After reading over the last paper, he tossed them in some direction behind him and looked back at Scarlet.

"Most of it is legal and military jargon. Just instructions on where that thing is being moved. It also mentions a brief testimony of a villager on the desert outskirts. That thing apparently fell from the sky, and was thought to be a falling star."

Scarlet's eyes went wide as he slowly looked back at the object in question. He still balanced it with one hand as he stumbled, "Are you, trying to say this thing is…"

Sage didn't answer. A long silence followed as the weight of what this was fell onto the two. Mistral's intel was off on this one. _Way_ off.

"...Lets… just burn this thing. We've spent _way_ too much time here, and those guards are probably done already." Scarlet muttered.

Sage looked over to Scarlet with a brow raised. He wasn't going to argue with him about the mission- after all, they _were_ sent to destroy this… thing; weapon or not- it was just surprising to hear Scarlet of all people unsure of himself. To him, the mission always came _first_. Everything else came second.

But here Scarlet stood, staring at the object in his hands. Motionless, and seemingly deep in thought; arguing with himself internally over who knows what. Sage didn't like to see his friend like this, so he thought of something on the fly to perhaps distract his friend until he could think of something better.

"Let's go. We'll bring it with us. We'll talk to Sun and Neptune, and then decide what to do. The mission is to destroy it, but not when or where to destroy it."

Scarlet's gaze was hidden in shadows as he quietly considered Sage's words. Though after a tense moment, he quickly nodded and began packing the object and the thrown away papers back into their container.

"_Hey! Stop right there!"_ A gruff voice barked a good distance away, followed by barking from the two guard dogs.

* * *

Sage and Scarlet had turned quickly, scanning around as they expected to have guards all around them. But no one was around. And yet more voices rose up, and the barking continued from across the hangar.

Scarlet motioned to move up, picking up the crate in one arm as he did so. Both he and Sage silently crept forward, now noticing that the door connecting the hangar and the living quarters was wide open, pouring in light. They stopped behind a rather large Bullhead, staying out of sight as they surveyed the situation. All the Atlas soldiers, and the dogs who had returned to their posts, were present; the soldiers' weapons were all at the ready.

Though it wasn't the two mercenaries that were the center of attention. Instead, all the Atlan soldiers were focused with the arrival of a small group of strange looking soldiers in Grimm masks, who only stood there, unfazed by the yelling soldiers as they stayed silent; not raising their weapons even slightly.

"Wait. Are those… the White Fang?" Scarlet noted in whisper. "Here? In Atlas?"

Said group of extremists moved apart slightly, allowing a figure that had been hidden to come forward and greet the Atlians. And she was one of the strangest things both Scarlet and Sage had ever seen.

She was a short and young lady, who walked with a constant creepy smile on her face and a pink umbrella that was open and hanging above her head. Her hair was half brown on one side, and bright pink with white stripes on the other. Her eyes were also strange, being brown on the pink haired half, and the other being pink on the brown haired half. Her clothes being made up of a variety of whites, blacks, and a pink scarf; all of it being of a very rich standard.

"Scarlet… we should leave… now." Sage whispered urgently. His instincts were telling him this wasn't going to end well.

Unfortunately Scarlet never got the chance to answer him. The head Atlan soldier approached this strange cartoon of a girl with his weapon lowered.

"We are not accepting visitors. Especially White Fang. Turn around and leave, and we might just forget we ever saw you."

The girl didn't answer. She just continued to smile as she slowly bowed. Then, she suddenly went creepily still.

In fact, all of the arrivals had gone suddenly still. They just stood there. Like… statues…

"Sage, call Sun. Now." Scarlet ordered quietly.

Too late. By the time Scarlet had said the words, Sage was looking up and could see the glints of gun barrels above them in the dark rafters.

"Wait a minute… it's an illusion!" The Atlan commander only now noticed.

Suddenly behind all the guards, in the light filled hallway, came forth that same young girl (both her eyes now brown). She came sprinting out like the wind. Her umbrella now folded down as she used it like a spear to impale through the Atlan commander's back. His blood was flying out, though his screams were drowned out by the sudden rainfall of bullets that pelted the other Atlas soldiers.

During the chaos, the strange mismatched girl kept up her smile as she retracted her umbrella from the now dead commander. She didn't seem to care about the blood that was now covering it, nor did she even notice the specks of blood on her face and outfit. She just calmly walked out of the bullet storm, hoping over a body or two and nonchalantly hitting an Atlas soldier as she strolled by.

When she had exited what was left of the incoming fire, she stopped dead. Her smile faded as she tilted her head to one side, then slowly she turned her head in Scarlet and Sages's direction.

When she noticed the two trying to flee silently away, her smile returned.


	3. Clocking Out

_Επίσημη Έκθεση 543, SSSN εργολάβοι ανακτήσετε και να καταστρέψει την έκθεση της αποστολής._

* * *

**Translation Active (**Mistrilian-Valian**)**

* * *

_Official Report 543, SSSN contractors retrieve and destroy mission report._

_We have lost any and all contact with our trusted agents. Our sources can confirm that the Atlas government is not in possession of them, though they cannot determine the cause of their disappearances. They will continue to investigate until told otherwise.  
_

_Our sources can also confirm that the Atlas government is not aware of our work in the region, has not connected us to the two incidents, and none of our other operations on the western half of Vytal are in any threat.  
_

_It is still unsure how close the mercenary team came to accomplishing their objectives. We are also unsure if the team was possibly working as double agents, or if our source's initial claims of a third party are substantial. Regardless, all possibilities are being considered._

_The incidents in question revolve around our suspicion on a small research station just outside the Atlas desert and a travelers rest hangar located in the eastern part of the desert. The contractors were only told of the possibility of research plans and a possible prototype air weapon in their respective locations, though as instructed they were not told of the significance or the correlation of both.  
_

_As for the objectives: _

_-Possible data on the unknown object was later found by our sources to be at Atlas itself. No usable or interesting data should have been at the research station, yet it seems the Atlas commander- General Ironwood- is most interested in that site and possible data lost. The night guards were all found disarmed and relatively unharmed, though they are not sure who infiltrated them. Meanwhile, the mainframe of the station was destroyed, and the mainframe room itself seems to have undergone major damage. Ammo shells were found at the scene, though they are all untraceable. No bodies, blood, or even hair has been found. We are still investigating.  
_

_-The object we were informed about was being slowly and quietly moved to Atlas; its current stop at a desert sanctuary. Sources can can't confirm if this object, much like the other, was called by "The Blip", though as by your instruction Lord we were not to take chances. The mysterious object was to be destroyed at all costs. We left it to the contractors to deiced what was necessary to eliminate the object. Given past records, it is unlikely that the many dead Atlas soldiers was caused by them. We are still investigating._

_Lord Julie, these are all the findings we have at this moment. We will inform you immediately if our sources acquire any new information._

_LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR! LONG LIVE MISTRAL!_

* * *

**End Of ****Transmission**

* * *

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